Not A Self-Help Book: The Misadventures Of Marty Wu?

Not a Self-Help Book: The Misadventures of Marty Wu written by Yi Shun Lai is a story concerning a young Taiwanese-American woman, living in Manhattan, seeking her place in the world through a variety of self-help books. The novel was written in the form of a diary from the main character’s perspective. The story follows Marty, who has moved to New York from Taiwan when she was five, at the beginning of the novel she has a job in Manhattan working in advertising sales for a magazine. Although she is remarkable at advertising, it is not her passion. She left her previous job as an illustrator and now works at this job in hopes of gaining her, hard to impress, mother’s approval. Marty’s real ambition is to open a small boutique where she can design wonderful costumes for people who crave to experience a different skin. She keeps her passion a secret from her mother as a result of their troubling relationship. Marty struggles to maintain peace …show more content…
Realizing that there is an actual reason for her mother’s anger, Marty becomes relieved that she isn’t always doing something wrong and doesn’t have to try so hard. The culture being the way it is kept her mother from seeking the help she needed and no one reached out to her. Marty ended up being on the receiving end of her mother lashing out and because of this lack of communication it caused her years of torment.
Not a Self-Help Book: The Misadventures of Marty Wu illustrates the difference in American and Taiwanese culture through Marty’s life and the people around her. It’s great to respect one’s elders and the general closeness of Taiwanese culture but it can also cause lots of misunderstanding between family members as it has with Marty’s family. In the end Marty is able to forgive her mother although her mother’s change comes very slowly, it is still a positive